[caption id="attachment_2404" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ryan Blaney was fastest in Saturday's qualifying at Iowa Speedway for Sunday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race. (Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press)"][/caption]
NEWTON — Ryan Blaney is 20 years old, but Iowa Speedway has been a big part of his young life.
He picked up his first NASCAR win here in a Truck Series race in 2012. That same year, he made his first start for Penske Racing in the Nationwide Series.
On Saturday night, he was the fastest in Nationwide Series qualifying, and he'll be on the pole for Sunday's Get to Know Newton 250.
"This place," Blaney said, "holds a lot of value to me."
Blaney's lap of 136.081 mph edged veteran Sam Hornish Jr. for the top spot. Hornish had a fast lap of 136.063.
"When you get that close to getting the pole, you feel like you should have gotten the job done," Hornish said.
Michael McDowell (135.963) and Regan Smith (135.665) will start on the second row. Dylan Kwasniewski (135.525) and Chase Elliott (135.437) will start in Row 3.
Blaney pulled double duty this weekend. He crashed in Friday's Truck Series race at Charlotte, then arrived back in Iowa at around 3 a.m.
Blaney said he didn't have time to dwell on his Charlotte misfortune.
"I haven’t had the best two or three weeks, whether it’s in the Nationwide or Trucks, getting into accidents, whether it’s my doing or unfortunate circumstance," Blaney said. "And that’s tough to put behind you, especially when it’s the day after.
"Coming to a new race track, a new series, with your team, you have to put that behind you right away, and focus on the task at hand. I can think about Friday night all I want, it’s not going to change. I can’t go back in time to change it. It’s kind of irrelevant to keep thinking about it."
Hornish and McDowell had strong showings despite not being full-time drivers in their cars. McDowell is making his first Nationwide Series start of the season, while Hornish is only making is second.
"Once you get to know what you want out of a race car, and how to work with people as far as crew chiefs, crew guys, engineers, explaining what you want, it gets a lot easier to have that little bit of lapse in time (in not driving for a team)," Hornish said. "When you’re young, and you’re starting out in the sport, and you’re trying to figure out exactly where you need to be, you need that every weekend needing as much seat time as possible. Obviously it doesn’t hurt to get into that caliber of ride at Joe Gibbs Racing."
"You only get a handful of races a year, but it’s always fun when you get into a rocket ship like that," McDowell said.
McDowell got his first laps in the car during Friday's testing sessions.
"It was good to just have a day to work with them," McDowell said. "With my Cup program, I just come into this and not ask a lot of questions. It is tough to plug in, but when the cars unload that good, and they’re as close as they are, it makes my job a lot easier."
McDowell joked about how he felt with the run.
"I’m frustrated with third, which is ridiculous, because I’m usually 25th," he said. "I’m really happy with third, but it’s such a good car, I’m like ‘Darn.’ So we were close."
Blaney, whose mother is from Chariton, Iowa, said he'll have a big fan following in Sunday's race.
"It’s a very big family we’ve got," he said. "We’ll probably have a group of 30 or 40 in the stands. You’ll know — there’s a huge circle of black t-shirts, Ryan Blaney t-shirts, in the stands. Just look for black blob in the stands, that will be my family right there. It’s usually coming out of Turn 4. I can always see them, under caution."